The present invention generally relates to audio amplification and in particular to accessories for coupling of acoustic energy into and out of electronic devices. More specifically, the invention describes a horn-shaped passive acoustic concentrator coupled to active acoustic transducers of the mobile phone (such as a built-in speaker and an internal microphone) to enhance the electroacoustic operation of such mobile phone.
Mobile phones and media devices provide many functions, such as a mobile phone capability, email device capability, web browser capability, and music/video player capability, for example. Mobile phones generally have a built-in speaker to produce sound that can be heard by a user of the device as well as a microphone. The speaker of these devices can provide sound output for a variety of purposes, such as a phone conversation, listening to music, news, and radio, for example.
Traditional speakers embedded within mobile phones often fail to provide adequate sound quality and volume, and they typically direct sound in a manner inconsistent with the goal of providing maximal audio power transmission to the user of the phone. These deficiencies generally have not been addressed by the prior art.
Earphones, earbuds, or other separate accessory speaker systems, are sometimes used to provide sound superior to speakers incorporated within the mobile phone. However, each of these alternatives have significant drawbacks. Earphones or earbuds for example require insertion into a user's ears, which may be undesirable. They also do not allow multiple listeners to share the sound from the mobile phone.
Known in the prior art are various passive horn-shaped attachments designed to amplify sounds emanated from the internal speaker of the mobile phone. Examples of such devices are shown and described for example in US Patent Application Publications Nos. 2010/0219012 and 2013/0170686 incorporated herein in their respective entireties by reference. Although these devices may improve the sound quality coming from the mobile phone, they are still limited in providing a full two-way enhancement for the user when the mobile phone is used in a two-way speaker mode.
There is a need for a passive acoustic concentrator to allow sound enhancement for both the sounds coming from the built-in speaker of the mobile phone as well as sounds received by the microphone of the mobile phone.
Additionally, the sound boosting devices of the prior art did not provide adequate support for the phone when placed therein—in such a way as to not obstruct user input area or a display of the phone itself. The need exists therefore for an acoustic concentrator which can serve also as a convenient and aesthetically pleasing stand for retention of the mobile phone—such to afford full user access to the display and user input buttons and enable viewing and operating the phone while attached to the acoustic concentrator itself.